ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 25th day of 2026 and the 36th day of winter.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1533, King Henry VIII of England secretly married Anne Boleyn.

In 1787, Shays' Rebellion forces failed in an attempt to overtake the U.S. arsenal in Springfield, Massachusetts.

In 1915, Alexander Graham Bell made the first transcontinental telephone call from New York to San Francisco.

In 1961, a few days after his inauguration, President John F. Kennedy held the first live televised presidential news conference.

In 2004, NASA's Opportunity rover landed on the surface of Mars.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Robert Burns (1759-1796), poet; W. Somerset Maugham (1874-1965), author/playwright; Virginia Woolf (1882-1941), author/essayist; Etta James (1938-2012), singer-songwriter; Tobe Hooper (1943-2017), filmmaker; Paul Nurse (1949- ), biochemist/Nobel laureate; Steve Prefontaine (1951-1975), runner; Jenifer Lewis (1957- ), actress; Geoff Johns (1973- ), comic book writer/screenwriter/producer; Alicia Keys (1981- ), singer-songwriter; Ariana DeBose (1991- ), actress/singer.

TODAY'S FACT: The Mars Opportunity rover continued to make scientific observations and report back to Earth until June 10, 2018, more than 13 years beyond the duration of activity for which it was designed.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1924, the first Winter Olympic Games began in Chamonix, France.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Lock up your libraries if you like; but there is no gate, no lock, no bolt that you can set upon the freedom of my mind." -- Virginia Woolf, "A Room of One's Own"

TODAY'S NUMBER: 6 -- wives of King Henry VIII: Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Anne of Cleves, Catherine Howard and Catherine Parr.

TODAY'S MOON: First quarter moon (Jan. 25).

ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 24th day of 2026 and the 35th day of winter.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1848, gold was discovered at Sutter's Mill, setting off the California gold rush.

In 1984, the first Apple Macintosh computer went on sale.

In 1995, the O.J. Simpson murder trial began as the prosecution made its opening statement.

In 2003, former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge was sworn in as the first secretary of the Department of Homeland Security.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Pierre de Beaumarchais (1732-1799), playwright; Edith Wharton (1862-1937), author; Robert Motherwell (1915-1991), artist; Ernest Borgnine (1917-2012), actor; Oral Roberts (1918-2009), evangelist; Neil Diamond (1941- ), singer-songwriter; Aaron Neville (1941- ), singer; John Belushi (1949-1982), actor; Nastassja Kinski (1961- ), actress; Mary Lou Retton (1968- ), Olympic gymnast; Ed Helms (1974- ), actor; Kristen Schaal (1978- ), actress/comedian; Daveed Diggs (1982- ), actor/rapper; Mischa Barton (1986- ), actress.

TODAY'S FACT: The first Apple Macintosh computer had a 9-inch monitor and 128 kilobytes of RAM. It was priced at $2,495.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1980, Fred Wilpon and Nelson Doubleday bought the New York Mets for an estimated $21.1 million, at the time the most ever paid for a baseball franchise.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "The worst of doing one's duty was that it apparently unfitted one for doing anything else." -- Edith Wharton, "The Age of Innocence"

TODAY'S NUMBER: $81 million -- estimated value (not adjusted for inflation) of the gold extracted from California in 1852, the peak year of the California gold rush.

TODAY'S MOON: Between new moon (Jan. 18) and first quarter moon (Jan. 25).

ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 23rd day of 2026 and the 34th day of winter.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1845, Congress passed an act designating that all presidential elections would be held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November.

In 1849, Elizabeth Blackwell graduated from Geneva Medical College in New York, becoming the first woman to earn a medical degree in the United States.

In 1922, insulin was injected into 14-year-old Leonard Thompson in Toronto and successfully treated diabetes for the first time.

In 2005, Viktor Yushchenko was sworn in as president of the Ukraine, only four months after becoming seriously ill as a result of dioxin poisoning.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: John Hancock (1737-1793), statesman; Stendhal (1783-1842), author; Edouard Manet (1832-1883), artist; Ernie Kovacs (1919-1962), comedian; Chita Rivera (1933-2024), actress/dancer; Rutger Hauer (1944-2019), actor; Princess Caroline of Monaco (1957- ); Mariska Hargitay (1964- ), actress; Tiffani Thiessen (1974- ), actress; Michael Stevens (1986- ), educator/internet personality.

TODAY'S FACT: Chita Rivera was the first Hispanic woman to receive a Kennedy Center Honor.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1944, the Detroit Red Wings set a record for the most one-sided hockey game by beating the New York Rangers 15-0.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Nothing is so odious to the mediocre as mental superiority. There lies the source of hatred in the world of today." -- Stendhal, "On Love"

TODAY'S NUMBER: 10 -- performing acts making up the charter class of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame on this day in 1986. Those inductees were Little Richard, Chuck Berry, James Brown, Ray Charles, Sam Cooke, Fats Domino, the Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis and Elvis Presley.

TODAY'S MOON: Between new moon (Jan. 18) and first quarter moon (Jan. 25).